


Problem Solving

by Skylark



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Childhood, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Separations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-26
Updated: 2012-09-26
Packaged: 2017-11-15 02:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/522104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylark/pseuds/Skylark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ethan is the man with the plan. (Or, Ethan is a whirlwind of terrible ideas, especially as a child.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Problem Solving

**Author's Note:**

> Ethan and Lyra are seven or eight years old here. For [](http://sarajayechan.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**sarajayechan**](http://sarajayechan.dreamwidth.org/) on one of the [desperation request posts](http://outstretched.dreamwidth.org/52342.html) that I throw up sometimes. The prompt was "wherever we are, together we'll be." I've mentioned this before, but whenever I write Ethan and Lyra, _especially_ as children, they are super-glued to each other—always touching and hugging—so sorry for that in advance.

"Lyra? Ethan's here to see you," Her mother said to the closed bedroom door. After a few minutes, the door opened a crack, and a bit of twintail slipped into sight. When Ethan pushed the door open further, Lyra stepped back, unprotesting.

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked as he entered the room. Lyra had obviously been crying, her posture slumped as she quietly closed the door behind him. She stared fixedly down at her hands for a long moment before she shook her head.

They sat down in the middle of the carpet, holding each other's hands. The room was growing darker as the sun set. "You're leaving tomorrow, right?" he asked. Lyra nodded. "How long are you going to be there?"

"One week," she replied softly. "B-but Dad, he's—he's staying there."

"But you'll see him again, right?"

"I can talk to him through the video phone," she said, a hollow repetition of what her mother had told her.

"Is he going to be there forever?"

"I don't know," she whispered. She sniffed, then reached out to hug Ethan, burying her face in his shoulder. "I hate Unova. I don't want to go."

Ethan squeezed her tightly, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Hey...I've always wanted to go to Unova," he said thoughtfully.

\--

"Lyra, we're going to be late," her mother called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Lyra shouted back. "Do you really think this is going to work?" she asked Ethan, more quietly.

"Yeah! Gimme your hat." Lyra did so. "How do I look?"

Lyra stared at him, her mouth twisted into a frown. "I don't think this is going to work," she said at last.

" _Lyra!_ " her father shouted.

"Go hide," he said. "See you later!" Lyra went to hide under her bed while Ethan left the room. "I'm ready, mom," she heard him call as he ran down the stairs.

There was a moment of silence before she heard:

_"Ethan?!"_  
 _"What did you do to our daughter?!"_

By the time they had finished yelling at Ethan and gotten everyone back into their own clothing, they were already too late for their flight. "I'll reschedule our flight for tomorrow," Lyra's mother told her husband, kissing him tiredly on the cheek. She glared at Ethan, shooing him out of the house. "Now off with you, young man! Lyra, we're going to have to _talk_ about this later."

Ethan looked worriedly at Lyra's downturned gaze and trembling lower lip before her mother shut the front door firmly in his face.

\--

"Let me in!" Ethan hissed, tapping on the window. Lyra slid the window up and allowed him to hop into her bedroom.

"I had another idea," Ethan said, and Lyra's eyes lit up somewhat reluctantly. "I'll go with you!"

"But how? You don't have a ticket," she said, "and you're already in trouble."

"I've got a plan," he assured her. "Did you pack for tomorrow already?"

"Not really," she admitted.

 _"Awesome."_ Ethan gave her an excited hug. "Unova, here we come!"

\--

Lyra's luggage was loaded into the car last. Her father picked it up—Lyra held her breath—and unceremoniously heaved it into the trunk. It fell with a loud bump and a muffled _"Ow!"_

Both of her parents froze, then slowly turned to look at Lyra. She tried to look innocent.

Her father turned to unzip her suitcase.

_"Ethan!"_

"I'm Lyra's luggage!" Ethan protested. "You said she could bring whatever she wanted!"

They missed that flight, too.

\--

"Lyra," her mother asked her wearily, "Do you want Ethan to come with us to Unova?"

After a moment of hesitation, Lyra nodded furiously.

Her parents looked at each other, and then sighed. "I'll call Ethan's parents to ask if he can come," her mother said. Ethan and Lyra both brightened immediately.

"Really? He can come?" Lyra asked.

"I don't think we're going to be able to leave without him," her father said. "You two would make sure of that, wouldn't you?"

Lyra blushed. Ethan retorted, "Lyra's my best friend! We're always going to be together, no matter what."

\--

Lyra held onto Ethan's hand for almost the entire duration of the flight. Ethan grinned, and didn't say a thing.

**Author's Note:**

> // written 20 Apr 2012, edited 26 Sep 2012


End file.
